Media trends: How to get UK press coverage in April

Want to spring into action and make the most of media opportunities at the start of the season? The ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service had a high percentage of requests interested in covering Spring during March.

Read on to find out what other topics proved popular last month and what you can do to help journalists with their content in April.

On the hunt for Easter info

The Easter weekend is fast approaching and has been a focus for journalists throughout March. Over 3% of the requests sent last month contained the word ‘Easter’ – a 19% increase compared to this time last year.

A large majority of the requests have been for Easter eggs and gift guide information. However, there has also been a number of enquiries looking for activities for the school holidays and travel destinations to jet off to. Both ‘activities’ and ‘holidays’ received around 2% of the total requests in March.

Going forward? While there is less than two weeks until Easter, journalists will continue to be looking for last minute products to review, so have these ready. Plus, expect more requests around ideas for days out during the two week break. If you’ve got a travel expert with comment,  they could get featured in The Sun Online, Daily Mail, or Sheerluxe.

The endless possibilities of Spring

Seasonal requests are always popular on the Journalist Enquiry Service and that was the case in March as ‘Spring’ appeared in over 5% of all requests. This is nearly double the amount that we received last year.

It could have been due to extra requests around the Spring Statement/budget as journalists at 5 News, The Times, and Daily Express all sent enquiries on this topic. However, there was a wide variety of areas covered mentioning Spring, like spring cleaning product reviews, must have travel gadgets for Spring break, and recipes and cocktails.

Going forward? Spring will remain a popular keyword on the service throughout April and we are likely to see more requests around beauty, fitness, fashion, food, drink, and healthy living. Journalists tend to look for expert comment to accompany these articles and you could get featured in outlets such as HELLO!, Yahoo! Life, Prima, PA Media, and The Telegraph.

Gardening requests in full bloom

With Spring now here, we have seen a big increase in the amount of gardening requests with just under 6% of the total in March being for ‘gardening’. This is a 34% rise from this time last year and 45% increase from last month.

Journalists at Ideal Home, Metro, Homes & Gardens, and woman & home all sent gardening requests last month. The majority of these were for expert comment on topics including pruning grape vines, the dos and don’ts of composting and how to grow blueberries.

Going forward? Gardening was the top performing keyword in April last year and is likely to be again this year. Expert advice is usually what journalists are in search of so if you have relevant experts, you could get featured in a consumer magazine or national press title.

Other opportunities for PRs in April and beyond

With the London Marathon taking place at the end of April (Sunday 27), expect to see requests around ‘running’ and looking for experts to give tips on taking up the sport or running longer distances/preparing for a marathon. This cropped up in nearly 2% of enquiries in April 2024.

2.5% of requests in April last year contained the word ‘outdoors’ as journalists looked to get information on activities and days out as the weather improves, and we would expect to see that again this year. Plus, journalists looking to get ahead with their content start asking for Father’s Day gift guide products and over 3% of the total requests last April were for this. If you have products ready to review, there is more chance of media coverage in national and consumer press.

For more about how the Journalist Enquiry Service can help you secure coverage in the media, check out this explainer.